Windows 7

**Cream Soda** · 2011-05-31 22:11

Raggy talked me into upgrading from vistar.

How do I upgrade correctly and not lose any of my data? I have 2 partitions (C and D drives), will that make a difference?

Also, how do I go about installing it to begin w/. USB external HDD?

**Cephius** · 2011-05-31 22:18

You can upgrade from Vista to Win7 but it's still kind of clumsy. It'll retain all your data and move all the old windows files into a windows.old folder. Sometimes you'll get compatibility issues, but a decent amount of the time it works well.

Best way to do it is to back up your stuff to an external/network drive and reformat, install windows 7 from scratch. As for how to do it, go pirate/buy the installation DVD and install from that.

**Cream Soda** · 2011-06-01 12:19

:/ Prefer to upgrade IF possible. I don't have enough space in external HDD, but I'd be willing to transfer my important files, then risk it on the other unimportant stuff.

Also, my HDD is partitioned.

Would it just overwrite windows vista on the C drive and leave everything on the D drive alone?

If so, that'd alleviate most of the transferring files process.

**Cheerios** · 2011-06-01 12:30

As Cephius mentioned earlier, your data will be moved to a folder called "Windows.old" if you do the upgrade process. Most people that I've spoken to opt for the clean install while manually backing up their data (myself included), but either method would work for you. Your program files will need to be reinstalled, but everything else should be in the .old folder.

Whatever partition your Vista OS is on is the partition that's going to be affected. If you have all of your storage on D, then that stuff will stay on D instead of being moved to windows.old. For a clean installation, C is the only partition that needs to be backed up. There might be some issues with upgrading/clean install if you actually installed files on the D partition instead of C, but you won't lose data as long as it's on D.

The obvious choice for installing Windows 7 would be from a DVD, but if you have the install files on a USB drive, then follow the steps on the Microsoft page to do it.

You'll still need an image of the install file, either pirated or legitimately downloaded. An OEM/vanilla download would be the safest, and a cracked version would probably be the most dangerous.

Edit: Student discount to get Windows 7 Pro Upgrade (can be used as a clean install too) for $30 if you're a student. Digital download or DVD version. http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/...w/default.aspx

tl;dr: upgrade is possible, but if you have all of your important data on D, then you can fresh install on C without losing the data on D. Tutorial for USB installation here

**Cephius** · 2011-06-01 12:43

You can do that, when you go to install Windows 7 it'll ask you what partition you want to install it on. You can just move all your important stuff to your second partition (D: ) and then have the windows installer wipe and install to the C drive. Just be careful you don't accidentally format both partitions.

**Caiyuo** · 2011-06-01 12:48

for what it's worth, if you have something like a 4GB flash drive to use for the install image, it can make the process a lot less painful. Installing from a DVD was a massive pain in the ass for me, failing multiple times, but some never experience that so you might luck out.

**Cheerios** · 2011-06-01 12:51

Originally Posted by Caiyuo

for what it's worth, if you have something like a 4GB flash drive to use for the install image, it can make the process a lot less painful. Installing from a DVD was a massive pain in the ass for me, failing multiple times, but some never experience that so you might luck out.

I've only had that experience when I burned a DVD on Max speed instead of 2x or 4x. Never had a problem with 2x aside from the lengthy burning process.

**Isiolia** · 2011-06-01 13:16

I've installed from a DVD many many times - normally only have I/O errors if there's a RAM or disk problem.

**Cream Soda** · 2011-06-01 13:35

I don't have any DVDs so USB is the only option at this moment, lol.

Backing up reallly important stuff(Music, school notes, rl pictures) just in case I fuck up the installation, then I'm giving it a go.

**rezn0r** · 2011-06-01 14:46

if you're dealing with older hardware some EIDE dvd drives won't work with the Win7 setup program, that might be what was the pain in some peoples' asses

**Cream Soda** · 2011-06-01 15:27

Originally Posted by Cheerios

As Cephius mentioned earlier, your data will be moved to a folder called "Windows.old" if you do the upgrade process. Most people that I've spoken to opt for the clean install while manually backing up their data (myself included), but either method would work for you. Your program files will need to be reinstalled, but everything else should be in the .old folder.

Whatever partition your Vista OS is on is the partition that's going to be affected. If you have all of your storage on D, then that stuff will stay on D instead of being moved to windows.old. For a clean installation, C is the only partition that needs to be backed up. There might be some issues with upgrading/clean install if you actually installed files on the D partition instead of C, but you won't lose data as long as it's on D.

The obvious choice for installing Windows 7 would be from a DVD, but if you have the install files on a USB drive, then follow the steps on the Microsoft page to do it.

You'll still need an image of the install file, either pirated or legitimately downloaded. An OEM/vanilla download would be the safest, and a cracked version would probably be the most dangerous.

Edit: Student discount to get Windows 7 Pro Upgrade (can be used as a clean install too) for $30 if you're a student. Digital download or DVD version. http://www.microsoft.com/student/en/...w/default.aspx

tl;dr: upgrade is possible, but if you have all of your important data on D, then you can fresh install on C without losing the data on D. Tutorial for USB installation here

Any other alternatives than the microsoft tool?

It's not recognizing my usb HDD, it's asking me for a usb drive though @.@

**Cream Soda** · 2011-06-01 23:47

Meh, regretting swapping over already. I can't get my second monitor to work properly. It doesn't fill the entire screen. About an inch margin of black everywhere.

They fucking got rid of my quicklaunch.

Reinstalling shit blows.

**Caiyuo** · 2011-06-02 00:02

try ninite for quick reinstallation of common programs

can't say I'll ever miss quick launch for 7's taskbar launching and jumplists

**Cream Soda** · 2011-06-02 00:17

Originally Posted by Caiyuo

try ninite for quick reinstallation of common programs

can't say I'll ever miss quick launch for 7's taskbar launching and jumplists

Lol, gotta uninstall all of it now, but thanks.

Doesn't let you designate a HDD. Put everything on the drive I did not want it on, lol.

Honestly considering going back to vista

**Caiyuo** · 2011-06-02 00:30

ouch, yeah it looks like from their site they purposely don't allow custom install locations either. If you want to look for an alternative, this is a good place to start: http://alternativeto.net/software/ninite/ - filehippo is also like a program repository that provides a lot of common stuff in one spot, but downloading and install is all manual. Has a neat program checker to notify you when things are updated too.

**Jefe** · 2011-06-02 01:06

Fresh install, that's all.

**Cheerios** · 2011-06-02 02:23

Originally Posted by Cream Soda

Meh, regretting swapping over already. I can't get my second monitor to work properly. It doesn't fill the entire screen. About an inch margin of black everywhere.

They fucking got rid of my quicklaunch.

Reinstalling shit blows.

Just googling drivers for your video card should yield some results for your monitor issue.

Also, the quick launch is located on the taskbar near your Start menu button. Just drag and drop a program down to the area there and it'll remain there as a "quick launch" program. I think Windows Media Player is there by default, but I could be wrong. The quicklaunch kind of blends in with other icons on the taskbar, but the quick launch icons are static, so they'll never move unless you move them.

**Galkaeater** · 2011-06-02 03:30

if your monitors 19:10 its very likely that it can't find its native resolution automaticly after a clean install you will probably have to do it manualy in your graphic drivers control panel.

**Kerberoz** · 2011-06-02 06:25

Upgrades are the worst shit ever. Just get in the habit of keeping all your media separate from OS/program files and reformat once or twice per year. This goes for all OSs.

**Cream Soda** · 2011-06-02 09:01

Originally Posted by Galkaeater

if your monitors 19:10 its very likely that it can't find its native resolution automaticly after a clean install you will probably have to do it manualy in your graphic drivers control panel.

Doesn't matter what resolution I set it to, the screen is considered smaller than the actual space on my monitor, hence the 1 inch black margin all around. Haven't been able to fix it yet.

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